Well, it just seems to me that if the blood has a need, that will obviously be prioritized over both bone and organs, and if the bones have enough as well, it's possible the organs do, too. I don't have a sense of whether the bones are prioritized over the organs or not.

Oh and ambi, the diet need not be VLC to increase bone mineralization - it just needs to contain animal products afaict. But what's bone mineralization got to do with this particular issue? We're not really talking about bones but rather intracellular levels throughout tissue. Blood levels will still be 'in range' even if organs are attempting to function (eventually poorly) and carry out cellular functions (eventually poorly) with insufficient potassium.

Oh and ambi, the diet need not be VLC to increase bone mineralization - it just needs to contain animal products afaict. I'm not sure what you mean by stating that bone mineralization is better...we're not really talking about bones but rather intracellular levels throughout tissue. Blood levels will still be 'in range' even if organs are attempting to function (eventually poorly) and carry out cellular functions (eventually poorly) with insufficient potassium.

Saiklon, from the analyses that have been done, it appears that the RDI for sodium is high. I don't have the sources handy nor the time to look them up, but when I read them some time ago, I think it indicated that the ratio was 8-12:1 K:Na

Saiklon, from the analyses that have been done, it appears that the RDI for sodium is high. I don't have the sources handy nor the time to look them up, but when I read them some time ago, I think it indicated that the ratio was 8-12:1 K:Mg.

That's an interesting point, that potassium is so necessary in the blood, that blood levels may not reflect the body's status. On the other hand, LC/high protein diets are associated with increased bone mineralization, which contradicts the idea that the blood is getting all available potassium at the expense of the rest.

For the 8:1 ratio you are suggesting that the RDI is wrong for potassium but correct for sodium? I think the RDIs are based on sedentary people in poor health. H-Gs would have spent much time outdoors sweating most of the time, especially in the warmer climates. I have sweated for hours hunting/hiking in 5 degree weather in the mountains... Moreover, in places like FL, for most of the year, when you are outdoors you are probably sweating even when you are asleep at night when its coldest. My point is that the RDI for sodium could vary well be wrong too...

"those with the highest potassium-sodium intake ratio (about 2:1) had only half the risk of cardiovascular disease death as compared to those with the lowest ratio (about 1:4). According to the study's findings, the said ratio actually mattered more than the actual quantities eaten.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025820_sodium_potassium_health.html
Unfortunately the study they cited has been archived and only the abstract is available.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/171/13/1183
Unfortunately there really isn't a conclusive study on the ideal ratio of K to Na. Minimum is 2:1.

Anthony Sebastian, Lynda A. Frassetto, Deborah E. Sellmeyer, R. Curtis Morris JrAn organism best fits the environment described by its genes, an environment that prevailed during the time period (millions of years) when evolution naturally selected the genes of its ancestors???those who survived to pass on their genes. When an organism???s current environment differs from its ancestral one, the environment???s mismatch with the organism???s genome may result in functional disadvantages for the organism. The genetically conditioned nutritional requirements of human beings established themselves over millions of years in which ancestral hominins, living as hunter-gatherers, ate a diet markedly different from that of agriculturally dependent contemporary human beings. In that context, we sought to quantify the ancestral-contemporary dietary difference with respect to the supply of one of the body???s major mineral nutrients: potassium. In 159 retrojected Stone Age diets, human potassium intake averaged 400 ?? 125 mEq/d, which exceeds current and recommended intakes by more than a factor of 4. We accounted for the transition to the relatively potassium-poor modern diet by the fact that the modern diet has substantially replaced Stone Age amounts of potassium-rich plant foods (especially fruits, leafy greens, vegetable fruits, roots, and tubers), with energy-dense nutrient-poor foods (separated fats, oils, refined sugars, and refined grains), and with potassium-poor energy-rich plant foods (especially cereal grains) introduced by agriculture (circa 10,000 years ago). Given the fundamental physiologic importance of potassium, such a large magnitude of change in potassium intake invites the consideration in human beings of whether the quantitative values of potassium-influenced physiologic phenomena (eg, blood pressure, insulin and aldosterone secretion rates, and intracellular pH) currently viewed as normal, in fact disaccord with genetically conditioned norms. We discuss the potential implications of our findings in respect to human health and disease.

Keywords: dietary potassium, human evolution, diet net acid load

Your body will maintain tight control of serum potassium no matter what until your potassium is so low that it is medical emergency Blood levels are one thing - sufficient potassium for optimal intracellular levels ad all bodily functions that require potassium is another thing entirely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypokalemia
"Normal serum potassium levels are between 3.5 to 5.0 mEq/L1; at least 95% of the body's potassium is found inside cells, with the remainder in the blood. This concentration gradient is maintained principally by the Na+/K+ pump."

That's an interesting point, that potassium is so necessary in the blood, that blood levels may not reflect the body's status. On the other hand, LC/high protein diets are associated with increased bone mineralization, which contradicts the idea that the blood is getting all available potassium at the expense of the rest.

Saiklon, from the analyses that have been done, it appears that the RDI for sodium is high. I don't have the sources handy nor the time to look them up, but when I read them some time ago, I think it indicated that the ratio was 8-12:1 K:Mg.

Oh and ambi, the diet need not be VLC to increase bone mineralization - it just needs to contain animal products afaict. But what's bone mineralization got to do with this particular issue? We're not really talking about bones but rather intracellular levels throughout tissue. Blood levels will still be 'in range' even if organs are attempting to function (eventually poorly) and carry out cellular functions (eventually poorly) with insufficient potassium.

For the 8:1 ratio you are suggesting that the RDI is wrong for potassium but correct for sodium? I think the RDIs are based on sedentary people in poor health. H-Gs would have spent much time outdoors sweating most of the time, especially in the warmer climates. I have sweated for hours hunting/hiking in 5 degree weather in the mountains... Moreover, in places like FL, for most of the year, when you are outdoors you are probably sweating even when you are asleep at night when its coldest. My point is that the RDI for sodium could vary well be wrong too...

Oh and ambi, the diet need not be VLC to increase bone mineralization - it just needs to contain animal products afaict. I'm not sure what you mean by stating that bone mineralization is better...we're not really talking about bones but rather intracellular levels throughout tissue. Blood levels will still be 'in range' even if organs are attempting to function (eventually poorly) and carry out cellular functions (eventually poorly) with insufficient potassium.

Well, it just seems to me that if the blood has a need, that will obviously be prioritized over both bone and organs, and if the bones have enough as well, it's possible the organs do, too. I don't have a sense of whether the bones are prioritized over the organs or not.

Saiklon, from the analyses that have been done, it appears that the RDI for sodium is high. I don't have the sources handy nor the time to look them up, but when I read them some time ago, I think it indicated that the ratio was 8-12:1 K:Na

Richard D. Moore, MD, PhD (8) goes into great detail about the function of the sodium/potassium
pump (Na/K pump) and what he calls the K Factor. (K for potassium; Na for sodium).

Early man???s consumption of sodium and potassium worked out to about 11,000 mg daily of
potassium and only 690 of sodium. A ratio of about 16:1. (Moore) Other sources say the
potassium was around 6,000 mg with 600 mg sodium. Salt was not a big factor in early man???s diet.

Dr. Moore says: ???The low ratio of potassium to sodium in the typical American diet is one of the
biggest - perhaps even the biggest -cause of bad health in our country.???

cellular biophysics tells us that one of several dozen energy-consuming mechanisms in living cells
uses about 25% of the total energy of that cell and therefore is of vital importance to that cell. This
mechanism is the Na-K pump and it???s the key to survival for every cell in our body. Not only does
this specialized pump keep potassium levels in the cell high and sodium levels low, but it makes an
electrical current which is carried by positive sodium ions that the cell uses for itself, but also
serves to regulate acid and calcium levels inside the cell. Dr. Moore says: ???When a living cell is
exposed to a substance that specifically inhibits the Na-K pump and without affecting any other
mechanism???that cells dies. So this pump is of vital importance to everyone

Quote from Principles of Biochemistry, 1992:
The activity of this Na/K-ATPase in extruding Na+ and accumulating K+ is an essential cell
function. About 25% of the energy-yielding metabolism of a human at rest goes to support the
Na/K-ATPase.
25%!! Think about it! If we don???t have these pumps working, imagine how this affects heart tissue,
especially.
Dr. Moore says the ideal ratio of dietary intake will be between 2 and 4 parts potassium to one part
sodium. In his book, he emphasizes 4:1.

Moore) (8) Chapter 4, p. 78: The Key Problem: An Imbalance in the Ratio of Potassium to
Sodium (The K-factor)

"For purely physical reasons (connected with the law of osmotic equilibrium), inside the cell
the sum of sodium plus potassium must be constant. This means that sodium can go up
only if potassium goes down. Likewise, if potassium goes up, sodium must go down. So
potassium and sodium are unalterably linked together like two children on a teeter-totter.
You can't change one without changing the other."
POTASSIUM AND THE REFRACTORY PERIOD.
Potassium prolongs the refractory period???or the time when the heart is resting between beats. At
this time, heart cells can???t be stimulated to contract.
Supporting biochemistry:
In the resting state, cardiac muscle cells are polarized due to gradients established by the active
inward transport of potassium ions and the outward transport of sodium ions. Various stimuliincluding
drug-induced effects-can cause shifts in these gradients, producing a decrease in the
internal negative membrane potential. This process is known as depolarization.(9)
Adverse effects or clinical consequences of potassium depletion predominantly affect the
cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems. Both respond to the associated
hyperpolarization of electrical tissue.
The presence of hypokalemia (potassium depletion), decreased membrane permeability to
potassium (which prolongs action potentials), shortens refractory periods and increases the
incidence of spontaneous and early depolarizations.

Dr. Moore (8) Chapter 19, Information for the Physician, p. 323,
Drugs That May Make the K Factor Dangerous
It's not simply the amount of potassium that's important, it's the dietary and IC potassium-to-sodium
ratio, which needs to be at least 4:1

It is often pointed out, at least anecdotally, that potassium deficiency is common among low carbohydrate dieters. Potassium deficiency can lead to a number of unpleasant symptoms and health problems. This micronutrient is present in small quantities in meat and seafood; main sources are plant foods.

A while ago this has gotten me thinking and asking myself: what about isolated hunter-gatherers that seem to have thrived consuming mostly carnivorous diets with little potassium, such as various Native American tribes?

Another thought came to mind, which is that animal protein seems to be associated with increased bone mineralization, even when calcium intake is low. That seems to be due to animal protein being associated with increased absorption of calcium and other minerals that make up bone tissue.

Maybe animal protein intake is also associated with increased potassium absorption. If this is true, what could be the possible mechanism?

I find his next speculations odd, though, as he suggests that higher protein diets may aid potassium absorption via insulin, and therefore that higher protein is healthier in the absence of carbs, whereas higher fat would need to be accompanied by higher carb intake. This just doesn't seem to jibe with what we know.

"those with the highest potassium-sodium intake ratio (about 2:1) had only half the risk of cardiovascular disease death as compared to those with the lowest ratio (about 1:4). According to the study's findings, the said ratio actually mattered more than the actual quantities eaten.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025820_sodium_potassium_health.html
Unfortunately the study they cited has been archived and only the abstract is available.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/171/13/1183
Unfortunately there really isn't a conclusive study on the ideal ratio of K to Na. Minimum is 2:1.